Please Don't End
by lil-hermione-at-heart
Summary: Listen to Don't Ever Let It End by Nickelback The Golden Trio has been best friends for almost 10 years. After the battle, Hermione talked her boys into finishing school at Hogwarts and now, they're all headed off into the world. But through it all, none of them had had time to look for that special someone. But what if they're closer to finding them than they thought?


**Chapter One**

It had been a few months since graduation and the Golden Trio were well into establishing their lives post-war. Of course all of them were treated like celebrities from Hollywood now and would probably stay that way for quite some time, even though it had already been a year since the end of the war.

Ron was in Auror training, determined to keep the fame going. Harry had decided that after spending his entire life fighting the Dark Arts, that it wasn't the way he wanted to spend the rest of it. He ended up deciding to take up the teaching position of Defense Against the Dark Arts instead. Hermione, as to be expected, accepted the offer to teach any subject at Hogwarts before McGonagall could even ask her.

However, being raised in the Muggle world, both Harry and Hermione had decided that they didn't want to entirely lose that connection. Upon presenting this to McGonagall, she agreed that they two Professors could come and go as they pleased. This surprised them both at first but since it was partly Hermione asking, they figured McGonagall would be alright.

Which leads to one Friday night, with Harry walking down the hall towards the Transfiguration classroom, where he was bound find Hermione, an envelope clutched in his hands. Sure enough, he pushed the door open to see Hermione sitting at her desk, head bent over a stack of papers, scribbling furiously. Harry chuckled at the sight and strode towards her. When he reached the desk, he threw the envelope so it landed directly under her quill.

"What's this?" she asked, picking up the envelope and looking at Harry.

"Tickets," he answered shortly.

"Tickets to what?" Hermione probably already knew the answer. Ever since the end of the war, Harry had become increasingly fascinated by the Muggle sport, basketball. He'd been dying to go to a game but hadn't been able to get tickets; well, until now apparently.

"A basketball game. I'm not sure who's playing but I got them really cheap so I figured why not?" He was beaming like a child who'd just gotten their Christmas wish granted.

Hermione smiled and shook her head. "When?"

Harry's smile turned into a small grin. "Oh about three hours."

Hermione's smile dropped. "Three hours? Harry, I've got a dozen papers to grade and lessons to plan…"

Harry stopped her. "Hermione, you've got all weekend to do that. Please, just spend this one night with me?" He gave her his famous puppy dog face, that he knew Hermione was a sucker for.

She rolled her eyes and started packing up her papers. "Fine, but that means tomorrow you have to help me with lesson plans."

Harry smiled and nodded his agreement, grabbing her bag to carry for her as they made their way to her quarters. As they walked in a comfortable silence, Harry couldn't ignore the butterflies that were assaulting his stomach at the thought of spending the whole night just the two of them. Not that this was the first time it had been just the two of them, heck they'd been best friends for almost ten years now. But for some reason, Harry was really excited about tonight.

After saying a quick goodnight with her customary kiss to the cheek, Harry closed Hermione's door behind him, goofing grin perfectly in place. Shoving his hands in his pockets as he headed to his own room, he relished in how great that night was.

He had started to notice lately that he liked being around Hermione more than he used to. Not that he ever didn't like behind around her, it just used to be more of a neutral thing; something that was normal. Now he couldn't wait to see her when he got up in the morning and got butterflies the second he saw her sitting in the Great Hall, barely touching her plate because she had some student's paper in her lap. It didn't take long for him to figure out that he was falling for his best friend.

But one thing really made tonight so much better for him. At the game during half time, some bloke had set it up for his girlfriend to be part of the halftime games, where she was blindfolded. When the game was over, he had gone out on the count and proposed, to which she screamed yes and the crowd burst into cheers. Harry looked over at Hermione and, for some reason, wondered what she would say if that were her and him. His own thought caught him by surprise, but not in a bad way. For some reason, he found himself becoming incredibly curious.

Harry continued walking through the halls of Hogwarts, not even caring that had already passed his quarters. He knew he liked Hermione, and he knew that they had been so close for so long now that it almost felt natural. He also remembered the first time Hermione had gotten drunk the previous summer and how she had spent the whole night being completely sappy and mushy, continuously telling him that she loved him, even though it was still mixed with her attempt at subtlety.

But that didn't stop the growing concern he had. Did he really want to risk this great relationship that they already had, even if it was only friendship?

Hermione rolled out of bed, yelling "Give me a second" as she stumbled around looking for something to put on over her night dress. Quickly tying the rob around her waist, she opened the door to reveal a very pleased looking Harry, much like he had looked last night when he confronted her with basketball tickets.

"Oh, good morning Harry. What are you doing here so early?" She asked, stepping aside so he could come in.

He took her invitation and plopped down on the couch in the common room of her quarters. "I figured we should get a head start on those lesson plans so we can get out of here early tonight."

Hermione, who was rubbing her eyes with her palms, paused at this statement. Dropping her hands, she looked at him. "What?"

Harry pulled out another envelope.

"What's in there?"

"Tickets." He grinned.

"Another game? Harry, isn't two nights in a row a bit much?" she said as she took a seat next to him.

"They aren't to a basketball game." The grin widened.

Soon enough, curiosity got its hold on Hermione as she took the envelope from his hands and tore it open, pulling out two tickets. As she looked at them, her eyes grew wide and her jaw dropped.

"Harry! How did you get these? The concert is supposedly sold out?" Hermione freaked as she realized the tickets were for front row seats for her favorite band.

"I have my ways. Being me has its advantages sometimes." Harry continued to smile. "Anyways, we should get to work then shouldn't we if we want to get there on time.

After the concert, they took a short walk through the park to get to a safe place where they could apparate without anyone seeing them. However, since the war, Hermione had never been comfortable in the dark. As they approached the poorly lit playground, she grabbed Harry's hand for a bit of security. Harry grinned at her and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. She smiled her thanks and continued to look around for a place to leave.

Unknown to Hermione, Harry's stomach had done a complete flip at the shocking contact. He knew she was probably going to do it when he saw how dark the park was, but that didn't stop the assaulting butterflies. His grin stayed firmly on his face until the familiar tugging feeling pulled them away.

Once again Harry found himself wandering the corridors after leaving Hermione in her room. Tonight had been just as amazing as the last. However, now Harry was sure. He was sure that he wanted to take the risk because he wanted to be with her. He wanted Hermione to be his for forever, even if forever wasn't long enough. Now he just had to figure out how to tell her.

It was well into the next week when Harry and Hermione had actually had time to sit down with each other. It was almost midnight on Wednesday night when they found themselves sitting in their usual place in the back of the library, grading even more papers.

Hermione was, as usual, scribbling away on a student's essay that they probably weren't looking forward to getting back. Harry looked at her, the way her forehead scrunched up when she was concentrating, the way her lips seemed to always stay pressed together when she didn't agree with something the student had said, but the way her eyes shown because she was doing something she loved.

As he took all of her in, memories from their years at Hogwarts flashed in his mind's eye, each one better than the last.

After that night, they hadn't had time to even think about doing something together. By the time their work was done, it was way too late to think of doing anything other than going to sleep. But finally came the weekend when Harry finally convinced Hermione to go for a walk with him around the lake. They talked about the "good ol' times" and even some of the bad, but for once, Harry didn't mind because it was Hermione, and she knew and understood him better than anyone else.

They decided to settle under a tree, a spot they used to frequent as students. Hermione shivered as a gust of wind blew through the branches, nipping at them through their thin layers. Harry put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer so he could block the wind. Hermione smiled at him and snuggled into him with her head just below his shoulder.

They sat in silence, looking out over the lake as the clear sky reflected on its surface like a looking glass. Harry glanced down at the girl wrapped in his arms, realizing how perfect this felt, how perfect the moment was. Deciding it was now for never, he let out a sigh.

However this drew Hermione's attention. She looked up at him with the sweetest smile formed on her lips. Harry almost caved and kissed her right then and there; it took all of his self-control to not give in. But Hermione saw the wheels turning in his head and, sitting up so she could face him, she intertwined their hands and looked into his eyes.

"Harry, we've been friends for almost ten years now; and it's been a very long and hard ten years. But I wouldn't have wanted them to be any other way. Through everything we've been through, you've stayed so strong whereas so many other people might have given up, and I've always admired how you could continuously walk towards something that could've very well been the end of you. But I also can't tell you how many times I wished that you're childhood hadn't been so deadly. But it's through that that I learned so much about bravery, friendship, and love. Because no matter how hard life was being on you, Harry, you never gave up on love. And you taught me not to give up on it.

"I'm tired of pretending that you and I aren't in love, Harry. I'm tired of pretending that we're just best friends and that there's nothing more. I'm tired of not being able to wake up every morning and not see your face next to mine. I didn't say anything before because I was so scared that it would ruin the relationship we did have. But I'm not going to just sit by and let the moment pass when we could've done something. You never know where life is going to go but you can point it in the right direction. I know that you know I love you Harry because even though I drank way too much that night last summer, I remember telling you that I loved you that I was in love with you. I don't want what we have to end, but I do want it to be more. Please don't ever let it end."

Hermione's steady eyes searched Harry's face for any sign of a reaction. But the longer the silence stretched on, the more worried and frantic her gaze became.

"Harry, please say…."

Hermione never got to finish the sentence because Harry pulled his hands from her's and placed them on her face and he gave into the feeling and kissed her with all the passion and love he had been holding back. They sank into the kiss and let their feelings flow, with a silent promise that neither of them would ever let it end.


End file.
